Pastoral Team

What a GREAT day at VBS today. Day 1’s word on the street was “Gratitude”! We were visited by Heidi Claire, Chef Pierre, Cooper and Justin Time to help us discover what Gratitude means and how it plays out in our everyday life.

We had tons of volunteers who helped as we went to the Fun Factory to make “I am thankful” wallets and stopped by Missions Ave to hear about the boys home we’ll be raising money for in Senegal, West Africa. Followed up with healthy snacks at the Brown Bag Bistro, working off energy at Firehouse Fitness, and then seeing the story of the ungrateful servant played out in Parable Productions (also bringing in 1 Thess 5:18) it was a full day.

If you were here and didn’t get your iron-on’s for your shirts or CD’s with all of our VBS songs on it, make sure to grab yours at registration tomorrow!

See you in the morning for more “Upside Down & Inside Out on Main St.”

I thought you might enjoy this quote from a sermon by John Wesley:

“Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and let think. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are farthest out of the way never compel to come in by any other means than reason, truth, and love.”

Matthew 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (NKJV)

Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (NKJV)

II Peter 1:17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. (NKJV)

When God speaks, the passion of His heart is His Son in whom He is well pleased. Because God wants us to enjoy His love, power and wisdom, He instructs us to, “Hear Him!”

I once read that we live at the mercy of our ideas. This is especially true when it comes to our ideas about God. Like you, I believe God is great and when I set time aside to pray, I find it easy to express praise and thankfulness. However, the idea that God would speak to me stumbles over my sense of unworthiness. Of all the people in the world praying at the moment I’m praying, why would He single me out with a response? What would give me the idea that God is on the edge of His Throne waiting to hear from me? It seems at times that God is too big for something so small.

However, it is exactly His greatness that has Him attentive and responsive to me alone in prayer. I am reminded of this in Isaiah 30:18, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (NIV)  When I read this verse I picture God sitting on the edge of His Throne waiting to hear from me, in all of my unworthiness, so He can overwhelm me with His transforming grace and compassion.

God loves me, and I prefer to live at the mercy of His ideas.

We all know prayer is about hearing God as much as it is speaking to God and I would love to know what He is saying to you. Please, post your thoughts here as a source of encouragement and blessing for those following you in prayer.

“The more we call on God, the more we can feel God’s presence”

As I was reading these words this morning I couldn’t help but stop and think about how much they ring true in my own life. How often I go about the busyness of my day without paying attention to God in the midst of everything. Is God still present in my activities, certainly. But more often the case is my own lack of awareness of His presence in my life. The more I take time to stop, slow down and call on Him the more I become aware of His presence around me. Sometimes even in the least likely places where I hadn’t seen Him before.

But is that not the great challenge, to stop, to be still and listen patiently for Him? I know He is speaking, I know he is there. Lord, day by day may you draw me closer to your loving heart.

with the holidays approaching, my mouth is getting all sorts of ready for delicious foods:) i’m not going to lie, i love cooking…just love it! i love all the flavors and textures from foods that we reserve just for the holidays.  on the average week, my house won’t be putting a full turkey dinner on the menu, but when holiday time comes around…not only is it on there, but it’s the center & focus of all the other goodies around the table!

one of the things i love most about cooking is how simple spices can and will make all the difference.  the moment someone looks up and says, this tastes a little different than i’m used to…what’s in it?! a little spice can go a long way.

one of the most underrated but overused spices (in my opinion) is salt.  it’s one of those ingredients you just get so used to having around the house that we dump it on everything! (my favorite thing to salt growing up was watermelon! i know, crazy right?) when salt is used too much, it totally takes over the taste and ruins it…but when it’s seasoned right, it make a good meal an amazing one.

in colossians 4:6 paul encourages the church to let their conversations be full of grace, and seasoned with salt, so that they might know how to answer everyone.  i love that imagery of salt here, with just teh right seasoning we have a chance to make things good better! but we also have the ability to make things much worse. i think of the way Jesus spoke to people, and it wasn’t always nice, but it was always “seasoned”. a.b. simpson wrote “it’s probable that God lets every human being that crosses our path, meet us, in order that we may have the opportunity of leaving some blessing in his path, and drop into his heart and life some influence that will draw him nearer to God.” simply put: let your words be seasoned to bring glory to our Savior.

may your speech be full of grace, seasoned with salt, that you may draw all closer to Christ as you are pursuing Him~

I write this to you in the morning, in anticipation of the day ahead. This is the day that we finish the house. This is the day that we hand it over to the family that we are here to serve. More »

One of the delights of coming to Mexico, is the chance to spend time with Rick & Tammie Romano, and their family. More »